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Memory Lane: The 'Steva' showed movies in Steveston in late 1940s, 1950s

Steveston had its own movie theatre in the 1950s.

Do you remember the Steva Theatre?

Seats from the Steva Theatre have been put on display at Richmond City Hall as part of its “Richmond’s Attic” artefact display.

The Steva Theatre opened in 1947 by W.A. Thorne on First Avenue at Moncton in Steveston – its name seems to follow a trend with the “Clova” theatre opening in Cloverdale in 1948.

The Steva operated until 1960.

The former Steva Theatre building is still standing, with its curvy architecture still intact.

The Steva Theatre was on the site of a former Buddhist Temple, built in 1924 and considered “the heart of the Japanese community until the wartime internment,” according to a post by Friends of the Richmond Archives on Facebook.

Before the temple was built, the Star Hotel was located on that lot, but it burned in the 1918 Steveston fire.